Why do you Forge? You fire up your Xbox /PC, load Halo Forge, pick a blank map, and start placing objects. Why? Or, more to the point, to what end? Did you seek to make that map that 343 refuses to provide? Did you want to perhaps correct the mistakes Bungie or 343 might have made? Did you want to make a new gametype? Create a special place for you and your friends? Get something into Matchmaking? Just want to see what you can do? Make something the likes of which no one has ever seen before? Machinema stage? Art project? Game research? What motivates me is pushing the limits. I didn't warm up to Forge much when it first came out, but Reach's Forge World caught my attention. Forge World and, later, Forge Island is where I spent most of my effort. In particular, the goal on Forge Island was to use all three islands, whatever the gametype was. I managed making a five base Dominion map covering all three islands, but because of object limits it wasn't very pretty. Finding enough players for a match was nearly impossible. Still, the objective was to see if it was even possible, and I succeeded. A side goal is to put something on the map that you haven't seen before, using (not necessarily exploiting) Forge's objects, bells and whistles to make unusual and/or unexpected things happen. Since I usually find myself pushing the object limits I don't worry much about how it looks, so I just try to make it so that a fair match can be had (in my opinion, that's the hardest part). And if I can't use a Scorpion on the map I'm done with that map. Cause tanks beat everything. So when YOU fire up Forge, what are YOU after?
I like to push the boundaries of what can be done with the scripting engine. I seek to open people's eyes and go "whoa, I never would have thought to do that" or better yet, "I assumed that wasn't possible, but here I am looking at it!" I forge the map itself to create a playable space around whatever scripting idea I think I've been able to successfully pull off. For that reason, my maps have not and never will be the best competitive maps, but hopefully they are all playable and enjoyable for what they are, an exercise in creativity and ingenuity.
Because I can. I like doing things no one else has done yet, with a dose of nostalgia. Pretty sure I break too many rules to be in matchmaking.
Most accessible level designer for me right now. Part of the reason I used to love forging was because I thoroughly looked forward to playing on my maps. That part is kinda gone now unfortunately. I'd absolutely love to design for Overwatch. All four gametypes offer so many opportunities for unique level design, especially when you're working with so many different movement abilities on different heroes.
for my own amusement. Right now though I am working on a long time idea I'd never thought i'd make until a few days ago where i thought **** it, im gonna make this idea I see if people want this as bad as i want it. Im making it because of these reasons really " 343 refuses to provide? Did you want to perhaps correct the mistakes Bungie or 343 might have made? Did you want to make a new gametype?" <- this in a nutshell. --- Double Post Merged, Aug 8, 2017 --- he's gonna have to catch up, thats his real test
I forged in Reach because I liked playing Reach. I forged in Halo 4 and MCC because I wanted a map in matchmaking. Now I forge because it's a good creative outlet to come up with new ideas and see where they can go. I think I have great ideas - the best ideas. My ideas are yuge. Seriously though, I feel like nobody else pushes themes and art the way I do, and I have a responsibility to showcase how inspiring a playspace can feel. I want people to go on one of my maps and feel like they are somewhere, and enjoy gameplay that feels like what they would expect to find in that environment. Seth once said that my maps feel like paintings and every fight on them is cinematic, so that's what I want to accomplish in a multiplayer environment. But more than that, it's a therapeutic venture. Set dressing a 3D space with character and charm is fun, and Forging is one of the rare times I can do something menial while listening to music. Unfortunately, Forge and Halo are holding me back.
This thread is not about the Pokemoney season 1 theme song. I find it incredibly inappropriate for a staff member to encourage thread derailment.
My passion is world building. Being able to craft beautiful, functional sci-fi environments that add to a richer Halo universe for myself, and for others alike. Having my maps tell a story through their visual and atmospheric design is very important to me. It's what I love doing; maybe for a living some day.
I started forging because I liked making stuff. I wanted to improve because of the feeling of excitement I would get when I loaded up a map and saw something that nobody else had done before or at least something I had never seen before. I wanted to recreate that feeling with my own maps, and I'm still trying to get there. After reading and learning a lot about music, philosophy, and the fine arts, I've come to realize that forge is no exception to the world of creation. Just because it's in a video game doesn't mean it takes any less time to understand or master, and while I'm not there yet, I fully intend on being one of the best if not the best multiplayer level designers out there. Something I would like to work on as far as a 3d space is concerned is the artistic side of things. I have always been abnormally artistically (in a technical sense) and compositionally talented, but I never cared to show that off in forge because I was extremely focused on creating unique encounters over atmosphere. I know now that both are extremely important, and you can't be considered the best or even close without being proficient in both categories. However, I don't think my extreme focus has harmed my journey, but rather I think it helped. I know how to balance a map easily, and I can identify problems without playing a map. I know what works and what doesn't. I'm at the point now that the only thing holding me back is creativity. However, I've come to learn through clinical psychology that creativity (defined by "openness") is pretty much completely hereditary. One one hand, this gives me an excuse to concede. On the other hand, this makes me want to defy my own brain (which IS possible with a ridiculous amount of practice) and become as artistically creative as anyone else. I know this is sort of off topic, but this is a good lecture on the subject.
Because I like the feeling of being satisfied with something I've created. Because I like architecture, even in its most basic form. Because it's the one passion I have that seems unwavering. Even when I wasn't making maps in games, I was still drawing layouts. When I wasn't drawing them, I was imagining them.